Anyone have the official data on this for Base Cooper (and S) while we are at it.......Being careful during break-in period, didn't see info in manual or elsewhere to this point....thanks.........

 

You can download manuals for both at MINIUSA.com...It's in Adobe Acrobat form...on page 76 it recommends no more than 4500 rpm, no more than 95 mph, and no full throttle for the first 1200 miles. I have 250 miles on mine and it's killing me.

 

I'm still waiting in line to ORDER MY MINI thank you, but...
I find this question important. When I finaly get one and start to break it in I would not want to lug the motor by shifting to soon.
That is at to low an RPM. as it stress internal parts through out the drivetrain.

 

when exactly would you shift "too" soon? I don't quite understand that...?

 

It would not happen in 1st, you would stall.
In 2nd, the gearing may be low enough for there to be no problem. You would either stall or the car would gather revs fast enough to not caus a problem. Some older cars you could start in second. (yes, a four banger)
The problem most likely would occure in 3rd, 4th, or 5th and if you are lucky enough to have it 6th.
Most of the time you can feel the stress put on the drive train - thats why they call it lugging the engin/motor. But in some cases you may not feel the stress. That is why the engin builder, or in the case of a new car the Mark, would "suggest" not driving below a RPM range. I think that it may have something to do with how things like rings seat to the piston and cylinder walls.
I am not an engin builder. I recall hearing this years ago when I was driving my '62 AH 3000 (BT-7) in the 1970's. The club would envite people to talk at some meetings. A number of members at that time were rebuilding their cars and several were redoing the motor.

I STILL ONLY ON A LIST FOR A MINI............ITS OK THOUGH........ I THINK I CAN HANDLE IT FOR A WHILE LONGER...............

 

Ohh, ok I think I understand what you meant now. I do think you'd be able to get it into 6th though, without crossing teh 4,500 rpm redline for the break in period... 4,500 isnt' bad considering it's the torque peak...

 

I JUST PURCHASED MY MINI 5-18-02 AND JUST HIT THE 1200 MILE MARK FOR THE BREAK IN PERIOD. THE BMW OBC TERMINAL RE-CALIBRATED THE AIR FUEL MIXURE AUTOMATICALY AND WOOOOWWWWW WHAT A POWER DIFFERENCE. I SPOKE WITH MY BROTHER WHO IS RATE # 5 IN THE COUNTRY FOR BMW TECHS AND HE TOLD ME WHEN I JUST GOT IT TO NOT GO OVER 4200 RPM NO HOW NO WAY. IF YOU DO THE COMPUTER WILL AUTOMATICALLY ADJUST THE VITALS FOR A MUCH SLOWER VEHICLE EVEN AFTER THE 1200 MILES. THIS IS A NON PRINTED BMW FACT. THIS WAY IT HELPS MINI-MIZE ABUSE TO THE VEHICLE WHILE UNDER WARRANTY. (WE ARE TALKING COST FACTORS MY MINI MINDED FRIENDS) OH BY THE WAY IF YOU THINK THAT THE BMW COMPUTER DOES NOT REMBEMBER. HE WAS ABLE TO CONNECT THE COMPUTER AND TELL ME MY AVERAGE SPEED FROM CHICAGO TO MICHIGAN WHEN I BROUGHT IT HOME AND MY TOP SPEED, AND FUEL AVG. YOU GET THE IDEA. ANYWAYS I HAVE MY MINI S ON ORDER AND WILL BE HERE IN AUGUST I WILL BE SELLING THIS COOPER WHICH IS BOST GREEN, TAN LTR, OBC, SUNROOF, CD CHANGER, RALLY LIGHTS, 5SPD, HEAT SEATS/MIRRORS, AUTO TEMP ETC ANYONE INTERESTED I WILL BE SELLING IT FOR 26900. BOTTOM LINE WAXED 5XS SINCE PURCHASED BABIED FOR SALE NOWACZYKV@YAHOO.COM EMAIL

 

I am not sure that you do.
It is like you would try to drive the car between say not lower than 1500 rpm and not above 4500 rpm in any gear (other than 1). The quest is for the lower number. What is it? Is it even important on this car? Minivinnie's brother may have an answer. But from a gearhead point of view think the question is a good one as by babing the car at the start you can push it hard longer.


I'M NOT SO SHURE I CAN WAIT TO MUCH..... MAY BE I SHOULD GO BACK BY THE DEALIER AND EXPLAIN THAT I NEED ANOTHER TEST DRIVE....... JUST TO BE SURE I WANT TO BUY THE CAR.... HE WONT KNOW THAT I HOOKED... IT DOESN'T SHOW ..... NOT..NOT TO MUCH.....

 

You could possibly shift too soon before adequate rpms....say if you had the radio on or loud noise where you couldn't hear the engine rpm......You actually would tax the engine more as others have responded if you shift before engine can handle it........My Porsche 1998 handbook had it and so did my older BMW manual 1990....

 

i don't know if you read about the abuse to the mini at the loading dock in the UK,, but it does my heart good to hear that the computer keeps track of the way the car is driven,, hopefully we would be able to see how our beloved car was treated before it got to us,, cheers

 

>>i don't know if you read about the abuse to the mini at the loading dock in the UK,, but it does my heart good to hear that the computer keeps track of the way the car is driven,, hopefully we would be able to see how our beloved car was treated before it got to us,, cheers

That's a thought. Would Dealers be willing to print that out? I'd sure as hell like to know.

 

>>. IF YOU DO THE COMPUTER WILL AUTOMATICALLY ADJUST THE VITALS FOR A MUCH SLOWER VEHICLE EVEN AFTER THE 1200 MILES. THIS IS A NON PRINTED BMW FACT. THIS WAY IT HELPS MINI-MIZE ABUSE TO THE VEHICLE WHILE UNDER WARRANTY. (WE ARE TALKING COST FACTORS MY MINI MINDED FRIENDS) OH BY THE WAY IF YOU THINK THAT THE BMW COMPUTER DOES NOT REMBEMBER. HE WAS ABLE TO CONNECT THE COMPUTER AND TELL ME MY AVERAGE SPEED FROM CHICAGO TO MICHIGAN WHEN I BROUGHT IT HOME AND :evil: . Would I be able to confirm this gem of information with the service guys at my Mini Dealer? I would like to be able to check the car when I pick it up to see if it has been driven under the reccomended RPMs. If this is the case I want to thank you for this post. I should rest much easier knowing that I can see how my car has been treated!

 

Hello, I just "flew" over from MINI2 in the UK, which seems to be taking it easy this evening.

I've got 420 miles on my S and I'm using all my will power to stick to the 4000 RPM limit until the "running-in" period is over at 1250 miles. Still that means 95 MPH in 6th, so it's nothing like as bad a running in my rebuilt Morris Minor A-series engine at 30 mph - but then that was over 20 years ago!

I like the idea that the car gets it's revenge on anyone who abuses it!

WRT lower RPM limit on the MINI: I don't think that there's such a thing as a fixed lower RPM limit - the point is not to let the engine labour. After all, when you're waiting at the lights you're at tickover RPM, you're doing your engine no harm at all. So when going uphill you need to change up later than driving on the level, but going downhill, when the engines not doing as much work you can change up sooner. You can tell when the engine starts to labour - there's an increased amount of vibration and the timbre of the engine noise gets deeper. As soon as that happens be sure to change down a gear to get a nice silky smooth engine noise again.

Cherio.

 

That post is pure bunk. I don't buy it one bit. Agreed that is is bad to flog the thing before breaking it in, but I doubt the existence of computer VooDoo taking over your MINI for the rest of it's life. Blah!

>>I JUST PURCHASED MY MINI 5-18-02 AND JUST HIT THE 1200 MILE MARK FOR THE BREAK IN PERIOD. THE BMW OBC TERMINAL RE-CALIBRATED THE AIR FUEL MIXURE AUTOMATICALY AND WOOOOWWWWW WHAT A POWER DIFFERENCE. I SPOKE WITH MY BROTHER WHO IS RATE # 5 IN THE COUNTRY FOR BMW TECHS AND HE TOLD ME WHEN I JUST GOT IT TO NOT GO OVER 4200 RPM NO HOW NO WAY. IF YOU DO THE COMPUTER WILL AUTOMATICALLY ADJUST THE VITALS FOR A MUCH SLOWER VEHICLE EVEN AFTER THE 1200 MILES. THIS IS A NON PRINTED BMW FACT. THIS WAY IT HELPS MINI-MIZE ABUSE TO THE VEHICLE WHILE UNDER WARRANTY. (WE ARE TALKING COST FACTORS MY MINI MINDED FRIENDS) OH BY THE WAY IF YOU THINK THAT THE BMW COMPUTER DOES NOT REMBEMBER. HE WAS ABLE TO CONNECT THE COMPUTER AND TELL ME MY AVERAGE SPEED FROM CHICAGO TO MICHIGAN WHEN I BROUGHT IT HOME AND MY TOP SPEED, AND FUEL AVG. YOU GET THE IDEA. ANYWAYS I HAVE MY MINI S ON ORDER AND WILL BE HERE IN AUGUST I WILL BE SELLING THIS COOPER WHICH IS BOST GREEN, TAN LTR, OBC, SUNROOF, CD CHANGER, RALLY LIGHTS, 5SPD, HEAT SEATS/MIRRORS, AUTO TEMP ETC ANYONE INTERESTED I WILL BE SELLING IT FOR 26900. BOTTOM LINE WAXED 5XS SINCE PURCHASED BABIED FOR SALE NOWACZYKV@YAHOO.COM EMAIL

 

I agree totally... I do beleive in the fact that a tech could check the revs, but you'd need the on-board computer to check the fuel consumption, or average speed.... If not, it would probally come standard. The rest was probally made up to entertain everyone... By the way... can someone tell me why almost none, if any american car has any break in period?

 

To quote MINIVINNI, 6/19:

I SPOKE WITH MY BROTHER WHO IS RATE # 5 IN THE COUNTRY FOR BMW TECHS AND HE TOLD ME WHEN I JUST GOT IT TO NOT GO OVER 4200 RPM NO HOW NO WAY. IF YOU DO THE COMPUTER WILL AUTOMATICALLY ADJUST THE VITALS FOR A MUCH SLOWER VEHICLE EVEN AFTER THE 1200 MILES. THIS IS A NON PRINTED BMW FACT.

If this is true, this sucks, because:

1. MINI should be forthcoming with this information, and not keep it a "non-printed fact." I'm buying an S instead of the base Cooper because I want more acceleration and torque. If there's something specifically that I can do, intentionally or not, that will hurt the performance, I should be told, up front!

2. If MINI was so concerned about warranty repair costs, why don't they put a rev-limiter in it for the break-in period? What am I supposed to do, watch the tach or the road?

3. What if, during the break in period, I have to stomp on it to get outta the way of a Peterbilt pulling a 60-foot trailer full of hogs doin' 75 because I was too busy admirin' the reflection of me in my MINI in the window of the corner laundromat to look both ways when the light turned green? My S gets it's 0 to 60 dropped down to 8.9 secs forevermore or until I bolt on some go-fast goodies? Will I start getting beat up by PT Cruisers? Like, how many times can I be 'bad' before the performance gets screwed for good?

4. How did they come up with 4200 RPM? Why not 4652 RPM?

5. What happens if I accidentally go 4225 RPM for just a little while?

I hope MINIVINNI misunderstood "#5 in the country" about this. I'm almost certain I can stay below redline during the break-in period, but below 4200 RPM, without fail? For 1200 mi? Gonna be tough, man.

 

From my experience with BMW their computer does store an immense ammount of information. The on-board computer that the driver sees is merely a nice little accessory. The vehicle's computer will store a lengthy list of info for the dealer to possibly use against you if you don't behave. I can only presume that the MINI is going to have the same software.

I don't think the MINI computer will adjust the vehicle to lower performance if the limits are broken, however if the engine does not break-in properly it may easily result in lower performance.

 

Contacted Mini USA through owners lounge email on Miniusa.com and received 2 answers repeating handbook info.....last reply told me to check with dealer service advisor on shift points since they do not have the information....I gave her examples of porsche and bimmer owner's manual layout ans suggested they do in future mini owner's manuals........thought that was a question that had a lay-up answer......I'll keep searching for something that looks like this :

First gear RPM 500 MPH 25
Second Gear 1000 35......and so on...........

 

agree, not permanent programming.....